Barbara Stanwyck
born: 16-07-1907
birth place: New York, USA
died: 20-01-1990
Born Ruby Stevens, Stanwyck was the daughter of a bricklayer. Her Mother died in 1910 and her Father ran away to Panama, leaving her sister Mildred to support the children as a chorus girl. She took Ruby on the road, whetting her desire to be a dancer.
Ruby found a typing job with the Remick Music Company in Tin Pan Alley. A manager there got her a job at the Strand Roof nightclub.
Ruby Stevens met the playwright Willard Mack, who hired her as a chorus girl in his new play. Mack built up Stevens's role, coached her intensively and persuaded her to change her name to Barbara Stanwyck.
On 20th October 1926, she opened in 'The Noose', to unanimous praise and, in 1927, went on to win a supporting role in the silent film 'Broadway Nights', her first picture.
In August 1928, Stanwyck married the actor-comedian Frank Fay, and they moved to California in August 1929. For six months Stanwyck did only screen tests, until Frank Capra signed her to star in his 'Ladies of Leisure' in 1930, after which her popularity soared.
By the end of 1935, she had starred in fourteen films. However husband Fay became periodically drunk and violent and, on New Year's Eve 1935, the couple signed a divorce settlement. Stanwyck married Robert Taylor in May 1939.
Stanwyck played her most memorable parts when she reached her thirties. Her lead in 'Stella Dallas' earned a first Academy Award nomination. The role many consider to be Stanwyck's best came in 1944, when she played Phyllis Dietrichson in 'Double Indemnity'.
Her marriage to Taylor proved less successful and they were divorced in 1951.
Stanwyck made at least two pictures a year until 1958, after which she made only three more films. She then turned to television, making the 'Barbara Stanwyck Show', and became known for her role as the matriarch in the hit western TV series, 'The Big Valley'.
In 1966, she received both an Emmy and the Screen Actors Guild Award. In 1982, she was awarded an 'honorary' Academy Award for her unique contribution to the art of screen acting.
Barbara Stanwyck died on 20th January 1990.
